IU School of Social Work faculty members embark on five-year, $2.74 million initiative with state and community partners to strengthen Indiana families

With more than two decades of experience working to improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system, Susana Mariscal, Ph.D., MSW, thought working on a major project that shifts the focus from detecting and respond to prevention was still years away. In 2018, she joined the IU School of Social Work and met Bryan Victor, Ph.D., MSW, also a new faculty member. Together, the two have turned the future into the present.

Supported by IUSSW’s long-standing leadership in child welfare advocacy, Drs. Mariscal and Victor collaborated on a grant proposal that aims to provide strength-based, community-engaged training and resources to families in four Indiana counties with high rates of foster care entry. Last fall, their project, Strengthening Indiana Families (SIF), was selected from 125 applications as one of just nine projects nationwide to receive funding from the Children’s Bureau, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children & Families.

“I’ve worked for many years identifying trauma and trying to provide solutions and evidence-based practices to help kids in harmful family situations,” Dr. Mariscal said. “The truth is that this trauma and pain are pervasive, and if we can prevent it, that’s what we need to do.”

In Indiana, she said, the need is particularly acute. The Hoosier state has one of the highest rates of child maltreatment in the nation and also has more children entering foster care. Indiana also ranks third highest in the number of cases of child fatality.

Prevention is the central focus of SIF, which ultimately seeks to reduce the number of children entering foster care and enhance the well-being of children and families. The five-year, $2.74 million project focuses on the development of community-based partnerships in Madison, Delaware, Tipton, and Grant counties in Indiana, with the key element being the creation of family resource centers to provide support, tools, and training for parents.

“In effect, it’s about moving services and supports further upstream to provide needed resources for families as early as possible,” said Dr. Victor. “By increasing protective factors and helping to meet needs, we’re engaging proactively to solve problems and make families stronger so kids don’t end up in foster care.”

The SIF project team and steering committee—representatives from several community partners, including the Indiana Department of Child Services, the Indiana State Department of Health, Children’s Bureau, Inc., and the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana—are spending this first year evaluating available resources in each county and planning for the four-year implementation, which will begin in early 2021. While the specific services the family resource centers will offer are yet to be determined, the centers will be embedded in places families already visit, such as libraries, community and recreation centers, and schools. Locating the centers in family-friendly environments helps prevent the stigma that’s often associated with receiving parenting training and other support. Additionally, the family resource centers will be staffed using community health workers, a model that’s proven very effective in public health outreach.

“We must work collaboratively with community stakeholders, federal partners, and the children and families with experience in foster care to build and sustain family resource centers,” said Terry Stigdon, director of the Indiana Department of Child Services. “By working together, these family resource centers can support communities and prevent child maltreatment. When families are supported, wherever they are, our communities and children will thrive.” Dr. Mariscal agrees.

“Imagine the outcome if this works,” she said. “Families in Indiana will be more supported and connected to resources in their communities—there will be families that become stronger, that don’t go through separation and can stay together. That’s really what is driving us.”